README: the MEOP-CTD database (owner: F. Roquet and the MEOP consortium)
Last update: 2016-07-12

ODV Collection produced from MEOP *ODV.txt files by Reiner Schlitzer,
Alfred-Wegener-Institute on 2016-10-25. ODV 4.6.0 or higher is
required to open the collection.


Since 2004, several hundred thousands profiles of temperature and salinity have been 
collected by instrumented animals. The use of elephant seals has been particularly 
effective to sample the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. These hydrographic data 
have been assembled in a quality-controlled database, the MEOP-CTD database, that can 
be accessed through this website.
For more information, check out the website meop.net
For any questions, contact info@meop.net or Fabien.Roquet@gmail.com


DATA FORMATS

Data are provided in three different formats. They can be easily read in Ocean Data View, 
or using your favorite data processing software (e.g. Python, Matlab, IDL). Matlab tools 
to read and manipulate files in netCDF format are also available publicly. For a thourough 
scientific use of the data, or for oceanographic data centers, it is advised to use the 
first format (marine mammal netCDF format) as it is the reference format. However, for 
quick investigation of the dataset, it is easier to use the second format (ODV). The third 
format (STD_ODV) is similar the the second, but interpolated on standard depth levels, 
making it the simplest to manipulate.


DATA INFORMATION

The data that is publicly available is shown in the figure map_global_public.png. More data 
is available upon request, as part of the MEOP-CTD database. See map_global_private.png for
the distribution of private data.
Important metadata and statistics are listed in the info_*.csv files:
- info_total.csv gives global statistics about the MEOP-CTD database
- info_groups.csv gives statistics by national groups (see meop.net/groups/ for information)
- info_deployments.csv gives statistics by deployment
- info_tags.csv gives information and statistics by individual tag.
For each deployments, distribution maps are available in the MAPS directory, and a pdf
document with basic plots of CTD data (TS plots, time sections) is provided in the
directory PDF.


HOW TO CITE

If you use this dataset for a publication, please add the following sentence 
in the Acknowledgement part:
"The marine mammal data were collected and made freely available by the International MEOP 
Consortium and the national programs that contribute to it. (http://www.meop.net)."

Also consider citing the following papers when you use the MEOP-CTD dataset
for oceanographic applications:
- Roquet F., Wunsch C., Forget G., Heimbach P., Guinet C., Reverdin G., Charrassin J.-B., 
Bailleul F., Costa D. P., Huckstadt L. A., Goetz K. T., Kovacs K. M., Lydersen C., Biuw 
M., Nøst O. A., Bornemann H., Ploetz, J., Bester M. N., Mcintyre T., Muelbert M. C., 
Hindell M. A., McMahon C. R., Williams G., Harcourt R., Field I. C., Chafik L., Nicholls 
K. W., Boehme L., and Fedak M. A., 2013. Estimates of the Southern Ocean General 
Circulation Improved by Animal-Borne Instruments. Geoph. Res. Letts., 40:1-5. 
doi: 10.1002/2013GL058304.
- Roquet F., Williams G., Hindell M. A., Harcourt R., McMahon C. R., Guinet C., Charrassin 
J.-B., Reverdin G., Boehme L., Lovell P. and Fedak M. A., 2014. A Southern Indian Ocean 
database of hydrographic profiles obtained with instrumented elephant seals. Nature 
Scientific Data, 1:140028, doi: 10.1038/sdata.2014.28.

Important technical papers : 
- A thorough description of the CTD-SRDL technology can be found in : 
Boehme L., Lovell P., Biuw M., Roquet F., Nicholson J., Thorpe S. E., Meredith M. P., and 
Fedak M., 2009. Technical Note: Animal-borne CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers for real-
time oceanographic data collection. Ocean Sci., 5:685-695. doi: 10.5194/os-5-685-2009
- The delayed-mode general methodology and estimated accuracy of CTD-SRDL hydrographic data 
are presented in :
Roquet F., Charrassin J.-B., Marchand S., Boehme L., Fedak M., Reverdin G., and Guinet C., 
2011. Validating hydrographic data obtained from seal-borne satellite-relayed data loggers. 
J. Atmosph. And Ocean. Tech., 28:787-801. doi: 10.1175/2010JTECHO801.1 [PDF]

National specificities :
- For Australian data: 
Any users of IMOS data are required to clearly acknowledge the source of the material 
derived from IMOS in the format: 
"Data was sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - IMOS is a national 
collaborative research infrastructure, supported by Australian Government.” IMOS data is 
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CCBY) License, 
(http://creativecommons.org.au/)."
- For German and South African data: 
Primary data are also made available through PANGAEA. Please cite :
doi10.1594/PANGAEA.150008 for data related to Marion Island (Southern Ocean Indian Sector)
doi10.1594/PANGAEA.150009 for data related to King George Island (Southern Ocean Atlantic Sector)
doi10.1594/PANGAEA.150010 for data related to Atka Bay, Drescher Inlet, Filchner Trough (Southern Ocean Atlantic Sector)